The Fashion Week blues
Posted at 2:10 PM Sep 16, 2009
By Andrea Grimes |
Models deal with constant pressure to be rail-thin, resulting in crippling, sometimes deadly eating disorders. Blink and you'll miss a woman of color modeling couture looks. Say what you want about the "art" and "theater" of the runway, overpriced foot-murdering shoes aren't out there making themselves popular all on their own. And please don't get me started on homeless chic.
I'm forced to acknowledge here that I do enjoy fashion, and I know that "fashion" isn't created in a vacuum, borne of some mysterious style goddess. (Sorry, Rachel Zoe.) I know it's a trickle-down process from runway to the mall, and that even my most unique vintage finds are, to some degree, affected by the present fashion climate. But Fashion Week reminds me how much the industry gets me down, with its zombie-like dedication to manufacturing desire for certain brands and prestigious price points. It's not about art, it's about business, and it's depressing. Sigh. I think I'll go surf Etsy for a while.
Comments
The most frustrating thing to me is fashion designers' sometimes quite horrific insistence that fashion has not a thing to do with the crazy shit women do to themselves (e.g. Armani, and Dolce and Gabbana, here: http://www.travelmongoose.com/wordpress/?p=28).
I know we're supposed to be responsible for our own mental and physical well-being, but there isn't exactly a lot of scaffolding for that out there, these days (you do not want to hear me on the topic of Bratz), and the voice of fashion speaks very loudly to us.
Posted 09/16/2009 at 11:59:29 PM